How To Prevent Email Overload

Published by Mike Michalowicz (Google+)

How To Become An Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Category: Managing Focus, Skill Toolbox, The Back Office
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  • http://www.wowtub.com Prashant Misra

    Seriously,I do believe reading email does waste a lot of time.
    Solution , well you can create rules in your outlook to make sure certain always get their due fate(especially the ones in which you are a part of some age old distribution list).
    Sentisize people that every mail you sent actually adds a carbon footprint to the atmosphere,this scare tactic(just kidding) might as well keep other people from sending irrelvant mails to you and also contributing in some ways to the nature.

  • http://www.kreatek.com George Barckley

    Here is a quote for ya; “The only reason the younger than 30 crowd use e-mail is to communicate with the 30 and older”. Learn to use Social Networking tools like RondeVoox for your internal collaboration and LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for your external collaboration. Its so much easier. You’ll discover you will be less dependent on eMail.

  • http://www.heatherwellness.com/blog Heather

    Great tips! I especially love the “check email twice a day” rule. Whenever I am feeling anxious or unproductive, I realize it’s when I’m obsessively checking email!
    Love George’s quote above.

    • Mike Michalowicz

      @Heather – So true. I constantly overcheck my email and when I do… at the end of the day… I have nothing to show for it.

  • http://www.breakingthe9to5jail.com Devesh Dwivedi

    Here’s a list of 7 habits of highly effective email users, these basic yet effective habits can help you manage your inbox efficiently and help you make the most out of this powerful communication tool, your email

    1. First and the foremost, Highly Effective Email Users take action when they receive an email. Whenever they open an email, they take one of these four actions Delete/Archive, Reply, Forward, Set a Reminder/Add to Calendar, based on the content of email. So, remember, if you take care of it right now, you have zero chance of forgetting it.

    2. Highly Effective Email Users don’t CC people unnecessarily and don’t “reply all” if the reply is only relevant to one or two of the people on the recipient list.

    3. Highly Effective Email Users use mobile email (i-phone, blackberry etc) to handle quick replies and forwards when they’re away from computer.

    4. Highly Effective Email Users clean up their inbox regularly. They set up multiple folders to help sort and archive the emails they want to keep.

    5. Highly Effective Email Users actively manage their email newsletter subscriptions. They “unsubscribe” from those they’re not interested in anymore.

    6. Email can be addictive and interruptive, so Highly Effective Email Users turn their email off and enjoy uninterrupted time to work.

    7. Highly Effective Email Users never reply to a spam message. They don’t just delete spam, they mark it as “Spam” so that they don’t have to deal with the same spam again.

    Get into the habit of these inbox management best practices and you will manage your time and email communication much better than most others.

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